The Severing Crime Edge: Episode 7 Review

For a show we all expected to be full of lolicon and hair porn/innuendo, The Severing Crime Edge is turning out to be one of the better shows this season, if not one of the most all-around entertaining. In the first episode, we were tantalized with the idea of Killing Goods, items owned by murderers in the past and handed down, either through family or choosing their next owners, and the disbelief that they could be a real thing. Well, as the next few episodes reveal, they are very real, and the “game” that revolves around them has trapped Iwai and Kiri at its core. Iwai, with her cursed hair that grows back every night, is thought to be the Queen, so inevitably, every Author, as owners of Killing Goods are called, comes after them. This builds the mystery higher and higher around them – just what is the link between the Queen and the Killing Goods and Authors, aside from the legend that to kill the Queen will grant her killer any wish.

Each Killing Good is surprisingly unique and creative, from a book of judgment to a mind-controlling whip of a dominatrix, and every new character that is introduced is intriguing. There are also some twists to some characters’ relationships, and some little fun bits, like one of Kiri’s classmates’ favorite historical figure being the murderer who owned Crime Edge before it passed to Kiri.

Overall, it’s set itself up as a strange blend of a wacky slice-of-life hijinks show and a murder mystery/action show, and it works surprisingly well. Each episode balances both aspects, even going as far as to endear you to most of the people trying to kill Kiri and Iwai.

The only downside is that the character designs and overall animation style are definitely better suited to a show from a few years ago; the animation itself is fluid, and especially shines during fight scenes, but the designs pull it down. On the other hand, it has some of the best music this season (one of the episodes actually centers around a lounge piano player), and the opening and ending echo the mix between a fast-paced action show and a simple story of, as Kiri puts it, a faithful knight trying to protect his naive queen.